Insert Whistle Sound Here

In prison, turning in or providing information of the illegal activity of a fellow inmate can get you killed. It’s part of the code in every jail and prison in the United States… and I suspect it is a part of the “understanding” of most prisoners everywhere. See nothing, tell nothing and keep to yourself. “Rats” die. Don’t be a rat!

In 2002, Congress passed a law – Sarbannes-Oxley – that requires senior managers of publicly-traded companies personally to certify their financial reports and for such companies’ outside accountant and legal advisors top resign if such financial irregularities are not corrected (noting to the government that their withdrawal was based on a Sarbanes-Oxley violation, without having to be detailed about the reason). The government hates wrongdoers! Or does it?

It is indeed refreshing to note that too many governmental agencies seem to think that the prison code of conduct – one that is standard operating procedure for convicted and incarcerated felons everywhere – is a fine model for them as well. Forget that federal employees are mandated to serve the taxpayer and may even be required to report statutory and regulatory infractions. Don’t even consider that many federal managers get performance bonuses based on meeting specific criteria, and that they are more adept as faking compliance statistics than meeting their obligations. And God help the junior civil servant who reports the truth!

Like the Veterans Administration. “Staff members at dozens of Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals across the country have objected for years to falsified patient appointment schedules and other improper practices, only to be rebuffed, disciplined or even fired after speaking up, according to interviews with current and former staff members and internal documents.

“The growing V.A. scandal over long patient wait times and fake scheduling books is emboldening hundreds of employees to go to federal watchdogs, unions, lawmakers and outside whistle-blower groups to report continuing problems, officials for those various groups said.

“The department has a history of retaliating against whistle-blowers, which Sloan D. Gibson, the acting V.A. secretary, acknowledged this month at a news conference in San Antonio. ‘I understand that we’ve got a cultural issue there, and we’re going to deal with that cultural issue,’ said Mr. Gibson, who replaced Eric K. Shinseki after Mr. Shinseki resigned over the scandal last month. Punishing whistle-blowers is ‘absolutely unacceptable,’ Mr. Gibson said.

 “The federal Office of Special Counsel, which investigates whistle-blower complaints, is examining 37 claims of retaliation by V.A. employees in 19 states, and recently persuaded the V.A. to drop the disciplining of three staff members who had spoken out. Together with reports to other watchdog agencies and the Times interviews, the accounts by V.A. whistle-blowers cover several dozen hospitals, with complaints dating back seven years or longer.” New York Times, June 15th.

But, you thought, there is a federal statute that protects whistleblowers in the federal government. Well there is: “The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, Pub.L. 101-12 as amended, is a United States federal law that protects federal whistleblowers who work for the government and report agency misconduct. A federal agency violates the Whistleblower Protection Act if agency authorities take (or threaten to take) retaliatory personnel action against any employee or applicant because of disclosure of information by that employee or applicant. Whistleblowers  may file complaints that they believe reasonably evidences a violation of a law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.” Wikipedia

Just one catch. The statute apparently has little or no value. “The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, only court empowered to hear appeals of whistleblower cases decided by the merit board, has been criticized by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and others in Congress for misinterpreting whistleblower laws and setting precedent that is hostile to claimants. Between 1994 and 2010, the court had ruled for whistleblowers in only three of 203 cases decided on their merits, GAP's analysis found.” Wikipedia.

The June 17th Washington Post reports a survey by MSPG showing that 30% of federal workers believe that their jobs would become difficult if they blew that whistle, and 13% of agencies did not encourage reporting of bad practices (63% actually encouraged active employees, however). Well over half of the issues involve waste, and over 10% involve corruption. About 20% of whistle blowers received direct retaliation, 10% were threatened with reprisals, 28% had angry bosses, and 17% resulted in unhappy co-workers. Fewer than 7% were lauded, and over 40% noted that nothing happened. Most civil servants want to do the right thing, but the system is stacked against that notion.

So when the government doesn’t want you to see something, you generally don’t, even if the relevant “secrecy” has nothing to do with national security or a proper government. Oh, by the way CSI fans, do you really think emails can get lost in a modern era? Really?

I’m Peter Dekom, and as usual, our passive acceptance of “stuff” too complicated for us to understand has given us the government we deserve, not the government we really should have!